End construction for mine cars



Dec. 29, 1936. l

R.' A. sl-nELDSv END CONSTRUCTION FOR MINE CARS" Filed Oct. 8, 1935 Rober-tagada@ ull.

@www Y Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES acca/'59j PATENT OFFICE END CONSTRUCTION FOR MINE CARS y Application October 8, 1935, Serial No. 44,087

10 Claims. (Cl. 105-364) This invention relates to end or bumper construction for cars in general an in particular to end construction for mine or industrial cars.

Previous end constructions have been made with a plurality of parts, at least some of which were standard rolled sections, but these were not properly placed to give the greatest resistance to end shocks. Also end constructions using rolled sections are necessarily limited to certain definite dimensions and it at times becomes extremely hard to meet certain height and clearance requirements desired by the purchaser of the car.

It is an object of the invention therefore to provide an end construction which is formed entirely of plate metal which may be formed to the desired shape without the use of expensive dies.

Another object of the invention is the provi- 20. sion of an end construction in which the number of parts is reduced to a minimum.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an end member constructed of formed metal parts the dimension of which may be readily changed in accordance with the requirements, yet without any great change in the forming machinery.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an end construction in which the metal is so disposed as to give the maximum strength to resist end shocks with a minimum weight.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art after a study of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. l is a bottom plan View of the improved end construction applied to a mine car portions of which are shown.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which one element of the construction is formed.

45. Fig. 4 is a side view of a modification with parts broken away to better disclose the construction.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, it is seen that the entire end construction proper is 5()k formed of but three metal members namely, end

sill and draw plate A, top cover plate B and combined bumper, bottom plate and floor supporting member C. This end construction is shown as secured to side sills 2 inward of their ends al- 55- though it may be desirable under some condie tions to have the end construction overlap the ends of the side sills.

The end sill plate A comprises when formed a vertically disposed portion 4 extending from sideV sill to side sill to which it is attached by interior 5 angle member G through the medium of rivets 8. Exterior angle I0 is also used to connect the end sill plate and side sills together and like angle 5 has one leg riveted to the side sills with the other leg directed'inwardly to overlap the vertical por- 10` tion of the end sill plate. It is necessary that the lower portion of the inwardly directed leg be removed or slotted in order to accommodate an element of the end construction as will be pointed out later. of the inwardly extending legs of the angles and the vertical portion of the end sill plate thus forming an extremely rigid connection between the end construction and side sills. The upper portion of the end sill plate is bent outwardly to 2'0' form a substantially horizontal draft portion I4 to which is welded or otherwise secured a reinforcing plate I6.

Opening 20 is punched or otherwise formed in portion I4 and plate i6 in order to receive a 25 coupling pin, not shown, which also extends through a similar opening 22 in plate B. Plate B is of angle formation having horizontal portion 24 forming a top cover plate for the wood bumper block W as well as the lower draft ele- 30" The combined bumper, bottom plate and floor 35' supporting member C is formed from a blank of sheet metal of the general shape shown in Fig. 3, which has been punched to provide rivet and bolt receiving openings 30 and elongated coupling pin slot 32. 'Ihe blank after forming in a break, a 40 bulldozer or by dies comprises a relatively narrow top portion 34 adapted to overlap the plate B, a vertical bumping face 36 and a rearwardly directed bottom cover plate 33 which gradually increases in width to merge with vertical endsill plate engaging portion 11.6. The vertically disposed portion All extends substantially from side sill to side sill with the part at the ends occupying the space provided by the removal of the lower portion of the inwardly directed leg of member I Il. 'Ihis vertically disposed portion is securely fastened to the lower portion of the end sill plate by rivets l2 to form an end sill reenforcement. A rearwardly directed portion 44 of the plate also extends from side sill to side sill I Rivets I2 pass through both 1'5` and forms a supporting portion for the floor 46 to which it is securely fastened by rivets or other means 48. It is readily seen that by varying the heights of portions 4, 26 and 40 that any desired position of the bumper face, height of coupling link and size of coupler link opening may be obtained without any change in the forming machinery. It is also readily seen that the completed construction provides suiiicient resiliency to cushion bumping shocks and that the members are so related as to obtain a maximum strength to resist the heavy bumping shocks.

The modification shown in Fig.'4 is very similar to that shown in Figs. 1-3, and therefore similar reference numerals have been used throughout but in this modification the' vertical portion'26 has been extended to the bottom of the portion 4 of the end sill plate and the securing rivets k42 extend through the portions 4, 26 and 40 thus providing an extremely rigid end member formed in part at least of three thicknesses of relatively heavy plate metal. The end may be further stiffened if desired by iianging the floor sheet upwardly in which case the rivets 42 will secure the four thicknesses of metal together. The car end wall E which is fastened to the portion 4 of the end sill plate may if desired be extended downward to meet the floor to obtain the same stiffening result. Y

'I'he end construction has been described in more or less detail and as being formed of plate metal, but it is obvious that various modifications, arrangements and improvements, such as making the end construction of metal plate may be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. The term plate metal as used in these claims refers to plates of metal formed by a rolling process in distinction to a metal plate which is a plate formed in any manner desired.

I claim:

1. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and an end sill connecting said side sills, means connected to said end sill to form a composite end construction, at least one of said means being formed of plate metal to present a vertical end sill reinforcing portion and substantially horizontal spaced apart portions, one of said substantially horizontal portions being adapted to support a portion of the car floor, and the other substantially horizontal portions being joined by a substantially vertical bumping face.

2. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and an end sill connecting the side sills, means connected to said end sill to form a composite end construction, at least one of said means being formed of metal plate and provided with spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by substantially vertical spaced apart portions thereby forming a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member.

3. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and an end sill connecting the side sills, means connected to said end sill to form a composite end construction, one of said means being formed of metal plate having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by substantially vertical portions to thereby form a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member, and another of said means being of angular formation having one portion attached to the end sill with the other portion directed outwardly therefrom and overlapping at least one of said horizontal portions.

4. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and a composite end structure connecting the side sills, said structure comprising a metal plate end sill formed to present a substantially vertical portion and a substantially horizontal flange, means connected to said end sill and formed with a substantially horizontal fiange spaced from said first named flange, and additional means formed of metal plate having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions vjoined by substantially vertical portions to thereby form a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member, said means being so related as to provide space for a cushioning bumper block.

5. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and a composite end structure connecting the side sills, said structure comprising aY metal plate end sill formed to present a substantially vertical portion and a substantially horizontal flange, means connected to said end sill and formed with a substantially horizontal iiange spaced from said first named flange, and additional means formed of metal plate having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by substantially vertical portions to thereby form a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member, said substantially horizontal iianges being adapted to receive coupling means therebetween and serve as draft elements.

6. In a mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and a composite end structure connecting the side sills, said structure comprising a plate metal end sill formed to present a sub-i stantially vertical portion and a substantially horizontal flange, means connected to said end sill and formed with a substantially horizontal flange spaced from said first named fiange, and additional means formed of plate metal having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by substantially vertical portions to thereby form a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member, said means being so related as to provide space for a cush ioning bumper block, and said substantially horizontal flanges being adapted to receive coupling means therebetween and serve as draft elements.

'7. A composite end structure for mine or other rail cars having a floor and comprising, a plate metal endI sill provided with a portion forming a draft element, means connected to said end sill and forming a second draft element spaced from said first draft element, and means formed of plate metal having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by substantially vertical spaced apart portions to thereby form a combined bumper, floor support and end sill reinforcing member.

8. A composite end structure for mine or other rail cars having a iioor, said structure consisting at least in part of a plate metal member formed to present substantially horizontal spaced apart portions joined by substantially vertical portions, said portions providing a combined end sill reinforcement, bumper and floor supporting member.

9. A mine or`similar rail car having a oor, side sills and a composite end structure connecting the side sills, said structure comprising a metal end sill formed to present a substantially vertical portion and a substantially horizontal flange, means formed with a substantially vertically directed portion overlapping and se- 75.

cured to said end sill and formed with a substantially horizontal flange spaced from said first named flange, and additional means formed of metal having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by a substantially vertical portion to thereby form a combined bumper and floor support, said Vertical portions being overlapped and secured together to form an end sill reenforcement. n

10. A mine or similar rail car having a floor, side sills and a composite end structure connecting the side sills, said structure comprising a metal end sill formed to present a substantially Vertical portion and a substantially horizontal flange, means formed with a substantially vertically directed portion overlapping and secured to said end sill and formed with a substantially horizontal flange spaced from said first named ange, and additional means formed of metal having spaced apart substantially horizontal portions joined by spaced apart substantially vertical portions to thereby form a combined bumper and floor support, one of saidl 

